Manchester United have invested big money in centre backs over the years but appear to have snubbed Manchester City’s new man.
The money spend since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 is pretty alarming – especially given Manchester United’s relative lack of success.
Big signings have arrived but so many have failed to live up to their lofty price tags, from Angel Di Maria to Romelu Lukaku and, more recently, Real Betis-bound Antony.
United have really thrown money at the centre back position over the years in the hope of finding the new Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic partnership.
Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez have all arrived in the last 10 years.
United paid almost £100million for Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro over the summer, continuing the investment.
That crop of defenders have endured mixed fortunes and it would be little surprise to see United spend more money on defenders in upcoming windows.
Agent claims Manchester United transfer miss
Manchester City have just splashed considerable cash on a defender many Premier League fans may not have heard of before his move to England.
City have signed Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens, paying around £34million, according to The Mirror.
The Uzbekistan international has impressed in France since joining Lens from Energetik-BGU in 2023.
Khusanov has arrived in Manchester but he could so easily have been playing for United rather than City.
Khusanov’s agent Gayrat Khasbiullin has told Championat that United were the first major team to show an interest in Khusanov – before he had even joined Lens.
Khasbiullin claims that United scout Nicolas Cinalli took a liking to Khusanov after watching him at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina.
Cinalli talked up Khusanov’s talent but a meeting with Khasbiullin just didn’t work out – and two months later, he joined Lens.
“Manchester United,” said Khasbiullin when asked which club made the first move.
“In May 2023, United scout Nicolas Cinalli was in Argentina for the U20 World Cup. After Uzbekistan’s second match at the tournament, he found my contact and wanted to meet. I was also in Argentina at the time, and we thought about meeting in Buenos Aires, but it didn’t work out because of the matches. Then it turned out that he was only staying in Rosario for a day and then flying out. I just went out onto the streets of Buenos Aires and caught a taxi to Rosario.
“That Khusanov has Manchester United DNA. That was the moment I realised that the guy would end up at a top club,” added Khasbiullin when asked what Cinalli told him.
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Erik ten Hag stance on Abdukodir Khusanov
Cinalli wanted to bring Khusanov to Old Trafford but Erik ten Hag wasn’t so keen.
Khasbiullin claims that Ten Hag wasn’t convinced that Khusanov would be a first-team player at Old Trafford.
Cinalli is still gutted that Khusanov didn’t join United, but send a congratulatory message after his move to City.
“The scout gave a very detailed report, but coach Ten Hag said that the defender was not quite ready to help the team at that time,” said Khasbiullin.
“We recently corresponded with that Manchester United scout. He congratulated him on the transfer to City, but regretted that the player did not end up at United,” he added.
Khusanov would not have broken the bank coming in from Uzbekistan and could have been a talent to develop rather than heading straight into the first team.
Khusanov’s development was aided by the intermediary step at Lens, playing Ligue 1 and even Champions League football.
Lens have now taken a huge profit on Khusanov and United will be coming up against him rather than seeing him in the famous red shirt.
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